DC-based Music Collective Crank LuKongo has gotten the ball rolling in a major way. Their new album Born Again is the jam session and history lesson you’ve been missing in your life. As your head nods and sways to the beat of each song, years of experience effortlessly pour into you. With both the group and the album produced and composed by D.C. Native, Matt ‘Swamp Guinee’ Miller, very few stones are left unturned. Master Drummer, Vocalist, Percussionist, Songwriter, Historian, and Renegade Realist, Swamp calls on his fellow artists within Crank LuKongo to create as a sacred art.

Briefly, the group itself includes vocals and drums by Swamp Guinee, the likes of Junior Marvin of ‘Bob Marley and The Wailers’ on electric guitar, plus vocals and acoustic guitar by songwriter David Blackwell of ‘Charles Road’. In actuality, the list of greatness of members and featured artists on the album goes on. The group consists of several hyper-talented individuals who each bring a unique and irreplaceable component to the overall sound. And boy, does it mesh. Spearheading their own genre, Swamp Guinee has distinctly named their sound ‘Afro-GoGo-Roots’. Make no mistake about the fact that each compositional influence holds equal weight in the recipe of the band. Afro for the unmistakable Jazz, Soul and Rock’n’Roll undertones throughout the entire project. GoGo for the don’t-leave-home-without-it attitude of their crankin’ native D.C. sound. Roots speaking to the revolutionary nature of their cause and the messages within their music, delivered in a way that you can’t help but jam or rock. Therein lies the perfect makeup for music that remains in the body and mind but aims for the heart.

Crank LuKongo’s sound stands as a testament to how our very existence relies on the existence of all that has come before us and also has the potential to shape what will follow. First single and video, ‘Ghosts of Anacostia‘, speaks directly to the extent of that history, especially regarding the guarantee of it repeating itself under the guise of willful ignorance. ‘After the Revolution’ touches on the future, asking of us what part we will play in the shaping of the world for ourselves– come hell or high water. Reaching back to the present, the album also touches greatly on Washingtonian pride, which is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. ‘The Legend of Petey’ is a sonnet of Funk dedicated to beloved Shock-Jock Petey Greene, while ‘Mayor 4 Life’, featuring D.C. rap artist, Head Roc, expresses the town’s widespread and undying allegiance to the late Mayor Marion Barry. The range of sound and subject on this project makes for a truly artistic journey.

Aware that we live a multi-dimensional existence, Crank LuKongo’s album “Born Again” stands as the perfect embodiment of just that. From pre-colonial history to current issues intertwined with songs about life and love, the project is undeniably a classic. Grown from the fertile soils of Chocolate City, Crank LuKongo is a clear benchmark for musical excellence and possesses a special brand of Soul that is unique unto itself. The album serves to give you a chef’s table sampling of a richness you may have not been lucky enough to experience yet. Be sure to hear it for yourself.

Requests regarding booking information for Crank LuKongo, Swamp Guinee, along with album purchases, can be found here.

Subscribe to my blog for upcoming profiles on members of Crank LuKongo.

Let’s say some shit happens between you and somebody else. I’m talking have you wanting to throw hands, or had one too many drinks while listening to ABoogie all night type shit. Because of what happened, it’s automatically considered a bad day. At the end of that day, if I was to ask you how your day was, instead of talking about all the negative stuff, ask yourself these three questions.

1. Did it take any money out of your pocket?
2. Did it take the roof from over your head?
3. Are you or anyone you know in any physical pain or danger?

If the answer to all these questions is “NO”. Then guess what, IT DOESNT FUCKING MATTER. Why do we insist on being so ready to decide that it’s a bad day overall? Things happen, and the reality is, they’re going to keep happening. People my age have what, maybe a good 60-70 years left in this world? Come on, it’s unrealistic to think we can ever progress or move forward in life if we direct so much focus and energy towards the negative.

I won’t lie, I dead used to be that way. It was a really hard habit to get rid of, but I started to ask myself, do I really wanna be mad or sad, or any other negative emotion everyday? Hell no. I got tired of it, and I knew if I continued allowing myself to choose the negative, I would start doing that in everything else that I do. Whether it was dance, work, this blog, relationships… anything. I would always be negative.

It had to become part of my morning ritual to literally say out loud to myself, “I’m choosing to be happy today, and I’m going to make sure today is a good day”. Regardless of anything that happens, if it didn’t take your life, there’s no reason to sweat the small shit.

Add ones we’ve missed in the comments 🙂

“Here at Bino and Fino, we are always on the look out for things that will help nurture young minds. Finding children’s books for kids that have a black girl as the protagonist or the main character can be tricky. This is because of the fact that there is very little visibility of black & brown kids in the world of children’s books. This is changing with campaigns such as We Need Diverse Books calling for more diversity in children’s books.

If you like any of these books and are looking for similar titles check out Tutu’s Storybook’s. They specialize in selling a wide variety of Pan African children’s books that celebrate black heritage & diversity for early readers.”

Chef Quincy and his team beautifully caters Mary Ann’s surprise birthday party! Watch the video below for a look at how wonderfully it was executed! Follow him on instagram at @chefQuincy and check for him in the “Featured Dish” section of Taji Mag Vol 6!

While mainstream media continues to spotlight negative attention towards people of color, very little is said about true artists in various fields. Artists that collaborate or self-motivate have always been seen as the underdogs to those who take the easy way out. These days, not many artists of color connect with each other, feeling that the industries they work for only have room for a few candidates to succeed. Dynamic duo, Devon Taylor and Daphne Lee, are making an impact in the art world today and are defying odds.

An accomplished Drummer, Actor and Model, Devon Taylor, hailing from Camden, NJ, uses his “inspiration of all art forms” to excel his expression. Currently playing for vocal artist, Nadjah Nicole, Devon spreads his passion by collaborating with artists locally and around the globe. Devon has a need to just make music and teach others on really telling a story. “I am all about art expression” says Taylor, “the story you tell when you’re on stage and when you are able to mentally and emotionally connect with your audience.” Devon even has his own production company where people can request his connections of talent for various events. Just recently, he connected with an NAACP ACT-SO regional gold medalist alumni (like himself), Daphne Lee, who is also a New Jersey native.

A professional dancer who is currently a ballerina for Collage Dance Collective in Memphis, TN, Daphne has always made a statement through other mediums of art via music, speaking engagements, and visual art, but most recently her photographs. “Ever since college, photographers connected with me not only as a dancer, but a ballerina of color to spread awareness of the lack of black female ballet dancers not being exposed in the media”. Even though her resumes extends from working with Beyonce, to being part of Ailey 2, Daphne mentions that there is a bigger purpose to it all.

Devon and Daphne collaborated with Memphis Photographer Ziggy Mack (@fomoloop) to demonstrate that art serves a huge purpose. Music and dance go hand in hand and with these NJ Artist, they want to continue to educate, inspire and mentor future artists of color to collaborate. They are always looking for a platform to connect with other musicians, photographers and visual artists. Follow Daphne and Devon on their careers on all social media platforms and watch their passion create pathways for the next generation.

Jahlaam (a mesh of her name Khadijah Salaam) is an electric soul artist born in Philadelphia, PA but bred and based in Atlanta, GA. Her earliest memory of herself singing was when she was four; a Whitney Houston song played around her childhood home and she happily sang along. Throughout her grade school years she would catch the ears of her family and especially her dad who encouraged her to sing often as he enlisted her in several talent shows. In elementary school she played flute and was apart of the school choir. She even got to sing “The Greatest Love of All” alongside some of her peers for her elementary school graduation. She continued attending chorus up until high school. Around this time she began writing but perceived her lyrics to be too amateur. After high school Jahlaam would pursue a college degree & placed making music on the back burner. However she could not keep away the urge for making music. Eventually she returned to creating what she loves most and began churning out lyrics upon lyrics while seeking out music that would fit her vibes. So far, Jahlaam has performed at several Atlanta venues and had a performance set during the 2015 A3C Festival. Currently, she is actively pursuing a music career and building her brand as an artist.

I walk the streets and I see people who are not me, who want desperately to be me; people who emulate us, but are not us. Whites. People lost in a culture which is uniquely defined by a lack of culture that is actually their own. They carry within themselves a sickness that seemingly permeates all other fair skinned cultures. They abhor us; berate and subjugate us. They want nothing more than to possess everything that we are. We live inherently as our people have lived since the tribes of our ancestors first formed under the skies of Mother Africa.

Their women inject their lips, breast and buttocks with collagen to give themselves the fuller, more attractive figure that our women are naturally born with. They sit under the sun, under lamps, and rub themselves down with chemicals to give themselves the sun-kissed skin that our people have from birth. They lock up their hair, decorate it with beads and jeweled accents and say that it’s a part of the hippie sub-culture; hoping all the while that we blacks will forget that the art of locking hair has its roots in North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and Ancient Egypt, along with head shaving which was done by us to show status, hair dying which was done by us with henna and yes, even wigs worn by us to protect our hair from sun damage.

How many of these things are we told wrongly by today’s society are meant as expressions of white “culture”? Not meant for us?

Whites have adopted the raised tattoos of our African ancestors. They’ve appropriated ear gauging, nose and lip piercing and stretching, neck stretching, and other manners of body modification which they boldly call “alternative”, “goth” or “punk”, but which were actually introduced by the ethnic peoples of North Africa; the Pedi, the San and even the Zulu.

They take our music.

They take our dance.

They take our food.

They take the clothing and artistic styles that we make unique and make them a part of the white mainstream. They take our speech patterns and turns of phrase. They take our very BLACKNESS.

Yet how many of these things are we told wrongly by today’s society are meant as expressions of white “culture”? Not meant for us?

Waiting to Exhale: The Top 3 Things Black People Must NOT Do

Waiting to Exhale: If you want to end police brutality…

There are way too many people suggesting that we sign kumbaya with our oppressor and not enough folks offering practical solutions that will keep my son from being a target. Let’s get into the three things we must NOT do.

1. We must NOT appeal to the oppressor’s sense of morality.

Racism works to their favor. Dismantling white supremacy has no net benefit for those in power. Your Black life has no chance of keeping them in their homes and safely segregated away from us ‘thugs’. White people, even “hip” ones, will never be able to effectively empathize as a collective to a degree that will end racism. After a while, most of them get tired of hearing about race/racism. Getting the oppressor to acknowledge and confront their privilege is an uphill battle with concrete boots. I am often reminded of a quote from Dr. Cobbs and Dr. Grier from the book Black Rage: “slavery was never undone for either the slave or the slave master”. No matter how tempting, DO NOT attempt to appeal to white folk’s morality. STOP replying on white folks to save us.

2. We must NOT get caught up in a “who’s the better revolutionary” situation.

It won’t end well and nothing meaningful will get accomplished. Many Black nationalist movements are limited by their exclusively intellectual or political nature. So-called experts sit in their offices deciding policies and plans for people who they have never been with or around. Revolutionaries can be guilty of that too. The reason DC’s “Mayor for life” Marion Berry got so much love was that he was among and about the people. He did not have to prove that. It was evident. Similarly, Muhammad Ali was the people’s champ because he sacrificed a great deal with no guarantee of a decent return on investment. He approached people in a manner that did not demean, disregard, or insult them. Unfortunately, there are some folks in the movement who will dismiss your entire existence if you admit to shopping at a big brand store. The head shaking irony to this, however, is blanket condemnation and revolutionary snobbery. STOP looking down on your own people.

3. We must NOT assume that we are doing more for the movement just because you tweet, post, and show up to protests.

Remember, the Montgomery bus boycott lasted over a year and in order to be sustainable, it required the attention and participation of all Blacks. Commitment to real action is key. I know single parents who not only show up to demonstrate, but also make good for protesters and bring blankets and give more than they have physically, spiritually, and financially to end the assault of Black people. It is about more than photo ops. STOP your t-shirt revolutionary brigade. We are more powerful than we realize. In little pockets all over this stolen country, there are high concentrations of Black businesses with strong products and services. There are predominantly non-white neighborhoods where the dollar circulates multiple times. These businesses create jobs, teach people about political/economic power, and strengthen our communities. It is imperative that we learn about and support them (us). Think of how much you spend each week and where those dollars go. Write or type a list of where you spend your money. How many of those places are Black-owned or give something back to the community? For at least one week in the new year, try shopping with Black owned businesses for at least half of your purchases. It is easier than you may think.

But wait, this article is supposed to be about ending police brutality. How is capitalism going to solve that issue? If we can sustain our own communities economically, politically, and every other way, then we will not need their police to ‘protect and serve’. Instead, we can prevent these murders by developing our own financial strongholds. Economic freedom is a big part of being free from police brutality. The police are not killing white soccer moms en masse. This is a critical time where we can truly rise up and make solid demands. In my hometown, they shut down the mall and multiple intersections. We can demand small business grants, tax breaks, land ownership, secession, resources, or whatever else we collectively decide. I am tired of worrying about whether my son will survive his Blackness. I am ready to build with anyone who is serious about stopping these murderers.